Love him or hate him, there’s no denying it: Donald Trump is at the forefront of this election cycle. Our collective gaze is fixed upon him, mesmerized by the absurdity of it all.
What is driving his popularity? What is it about this historical moment that allows a man like Trump to dominate one...

One goal of higher education is to provide new experiences for students. What better way to do this than travelling internationally?
Growing up in this country, I think it’s hard not to notice the strange countervailing messages our culture inculcates in us about the rest of the world. Our rather...

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is dead.
That’s unfortunate for him, but people die every day. So what?
Well, as anyone who pays attention to the news should know, there is a great deal of hostility between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Senate. Since it’s Obama’s duty...

A new semester brings a new editor of Basement Medicine.
I’d like to take this opportunity to speak to the importance of an issue near and dear to many of us here at Johnson State College: the existential crisis of affordable liberal arts education in this country.
I think sometimes it’s easy to for ...

Hi, how’s it going? I’d like to introduce myself to you readers today, my name is Benjamin Simone, and in a few weeks, myself and 12 other members of the VSC Board of Trustees are going to decide on whether or not to raise your tuition.
Now that I’ve got your attention, let me properly introduce mys...

Certainly, Johnson State has made some progress as far as the state of life for the LGBT community goes. There is now an LGBT oriented club on campus; a discussion was raised a year ago about how essential it is to keep the current gender neutral bathrooms on campus—as well as adding a few if poss...

As the end of my final semester at Johnson State College approaches, I wanted to go out with a bang, and talk about something that would spark some interest on campus, and maybe this will. However, I’m not sure how up to date people are on current events.
What I want to discuss is what the hell...

Editor’s note: Ann Turkle has taught at Johnson State off and on since 1971. She also taught at Warren Wilson College where she directed the undergraduate writing program until 2007 and at Florida State where she earned her Ph.D. She held administrative positions in noncredit programs at UVM...

You know what truly amazes me? The sheer lack of personal contact in today’s society. We live in a world where everyone is connected by the tenuous threads of social media, and very disconnected from their own families, friends and neighbors. People in the younger generation, my generation, have seemingly...

Every 15 minutes, an elephant is slaughtered for its tusks, and if we do nothing in 10 years, wild African elephants will be extinct.
That is a message Ashley McAvey, the woman leading the campaign to end elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn sales in Vermont, would like you to take to heart.
The...

September 9, 2015, marked the end of an era for the Vermont newspaper business, as News & Citizen ran its 50-year-old printing press for the last time.
News & Citizen was the last small weekly community newspaper in Vermont to still be printing in house, and it had been doing so for 121 years. However,...

We left for the Hike for Hunger in the wee hours of the morning—or at least that’s how 8:45 feels to me after eating Sodexo for five weeks, a privilege I can only now begin to authentically appreciate. At least I have steady access to food.
It was just the four of us: Alex Goudreau, an English...

Only four weeks into the semester, the college’s codes of conduct have already been broken. A dozen cars were recently vandalized in the Senators parking lot.
Those responsible have come forward, yet according to Dean of Students David Bergh, federal regulations prohibit divulging their names,...

The fall semester began as usual, by parading incoming freshman across the quad and eating a barbecue under the tent. As I look at all of those smiling new faces on campus, I wonder how the semester will begin for them. Will they be stressed beyond compare? Will they enter JSC with ease? Will they succeed...

After two weeks of discussions regarding art censorship, freedom ofspeech and freedom of expression on campus, I have begun to wonder why we care so much. Is it to honor our Bill of Rights and the vague wording within? Is it to maintain our country’s illusion of freedom? Where do we draw the line?
I...

Police brutality in this country is out of control, and it has been for a long time. In 2015, police have been killing one person every eight hours, and these victims are disproportionately African American and Latino men and women. In January of 2015 alone the police were responsible for at least ninety-one...

As the end of the year approaches, stress levels rise while students prepare for finals, plan for next semester or start to figure out life after college, and it all seems uncontrollable. But stress management is all about taking control: of your future, of your emotions, of your schedule and everything...

I’ve always been a sucker for small communities. I think it’s because I was raised in them. I like little groups of close friends, small classrooms where the teacher actually has time for his or her students, and places where there are a few faces I can recognize. I went to a tiny elementary school,...

Okay, imagine you have a friend who is seriously sick and could die if they don’t get to the hospital. You rush them to the ER and sit with them while the nurse takes down their information. Your friend is given a hospital gown to change into and the two of you are shown to a tiny room in the ER with...

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Time is running out, and you’ve only presented half of your argument. Sweat begins to bead on your forehead as the graphite etches away at the paper, and you wonder if you’ve presented enough supporting detail to pass this time, and then, “Time is almost up. Please finish...

In the last issue of Basement Medicine, page two featured photos of the VSC board members appointed by Governor Shumlin. The photo of Linda Milne was incorrect. While it was a Linda Milne, it was not the correct one, and I sincerely apologize for the mistake. To the left is her actual photo.
-Kayla...

For many students pursuing higher education, college has been a synonym for success throughout their lives. A diploma wasn’t just a piece of paper, it was more or less a portal to the future.
As bills stack up and money runs tight, though, I find myself looking for a second job on top of the 18...

In recent years, Johnson State College has been focused on recruiting and retention as a means to boost income and pull the college out of a downward financial spiral, but I think at this point it needs to broaden its demographic, and rebrand to out-of-state students. Let’s face it, Vermont is not prod...

Healthy relationships bring happiness and health to our lives. Studies show that people with healthy relationships really do have more happiness and less stress. There are basic ways to make relationships healthy, even though each one is different… parents, siblings, friends, lovers, partners, roomm...

The good news is that our country has made substantial economic progress since President George W. Bush left office. At that time, we were hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs a month, the financial system was on the verge of collapse, and our deficit was $1.4 trillion.
The bad news is the middle class continues...

Do you know about mindfulness?
One of the best definitions of mindfulness comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, who says that Mindfulness is “paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to...

With the four semi-finalists in the search for JSC’s next president having completed the interview process, presentations with students, staff, and faculty, and with the online opinion forms, submitted by the JSC community, the presidential search committee decided on Monday, Feb. 2, that Dr. Elaine...

What happened that week?
The United States and China promised each other to start cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions after President Obama met with President Xi Jinping of China on Nov. 11. This is what the media are calling a “historic agreement” that pushes each country to do good for...

In light of some events on and off of campus, I think we need to talk about a little something called “victim-blaming”. Victim-blaming is when the victim or survivor of a crime is held responsible for what happened to them. For example, victims/survivors of rape and sexual assault are often asked...

Enjoy video games? Feeling stressed and overwhelmed?
Then check out this brand new JSC service, which is offered through collaboration between the Health Center and the Behavioral Medicine Research Lab! It has been sweeping the country and is being used by several universities and colleges and is...